JP3266095B2 - connector - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connector provided with a retainer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a connector provided with a retainer, there is a connector disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 4-32079. As shown in FIG. 7, the retainer 3 is temporarily locked in the retainer mounting hole 2 opened on the side surface of the housing 1.
In the temporarily locked state, the terminal fitting 4 is inserted into the housing 1,
Thereafter, the retainer 3 is pushed into the final locking position to hold the terminal fitting 4 at the regular insertion position. When removing the terminal fitting 4, the tip of a driver-like jig (not shown) that is elongated in the front-rear direction is inserted into the hole edge of the retainer mounting hole 2 and hooked on the retainer 3, and the lever is used to take advantage of the leverage. The retainer 3 is displaced from the final locking position to the temporary locking position.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned conventional connector, there is no means for positioning the jig in the width direction (the direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 7), so that the jig floats during operation. And the operability is poor. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has an object to restrict the movement of the jig in the width direction.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a housing having a retainer mounting hole opened in a side surface, a terminal fitting inserted into and withdrawn from the housing, and a terminal provided in the retainer mounting hole. A retainer that is displaceably mounted between a temporary locking position that allows insertion and extraction of the metal fitting and a final locking position that is fitted more deeply than the temporary locking position and holds the terminal metal fitting in the regular insertion position. Be prepared, before
A recess is provided at the trailing edge at the opening of the retainer mounting hole.
It is, plug the front end of the longitudinal long jig in the recess
In a state where the jig is hooked on the retainer, the retainer is displaced from the final locking position to the temporary locking position by leverage while approaching the jig to the side surface of the housing , and the side surface of the housing , a connector in which a pair of ribs positioned so as to sandwich from both sides the jig in the width direction is突成, the Li in the jig
The tener is unlocked at the final lock position and the temporary lock is released.
The fulcrum for the release operation up to the position is
The retainer mounting hole in the portion and the housing is open
The edge of the portion where the side surface to be
After the lock at the final locking position is released, the
In the state before the movement,
The structure is set to the rear edge of the housing .

[0005]

[0006]

<Operation and Effect of the Invention><Invention of Claim 1> Since a pair of ribs are provided so as to sandwich the jig from both sides, play in the width direction of the jig is regulated, and the operability of the jig is stabilized. Also, the retainer is locked at the final locking position with this jig.
Is released until it reaches the temporary lock position.
The fulcrum is the recess and the retainer mounting hole in the housing
From the edge of the part where the side that opens is continuous, the retainer
After the lock at the lock position is released, the temporary lock position is reached.
Before moving to the rear edge of the housing.
You.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1 Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. The connector A of the present embodiment includes a housing 10 and a retainer 20. The housing 10 has three chamber cavities 12 into which the terminal fittings 11 can be inserted from the rear, and also has a retainer mounting hole 13 opened on the lower surface of the housing 10. The retainer mounting hole 13 communicates with the cavity 12 and also communicates with two slit-shaped locking spaces 14 formed between the cavities 12. Also, the housing 10
On the upper surface of the rear end, there is formed a gate-shaped frame portion 15 rising from both left and right ends. Further, a pair of ribs 16 projecting downward from a region excluding a central portion in the width direction is formed on a rear end edge of the lower surface side of the housing 10.
The housing 10 is adapted to be fitted into the hood portion F of the mating connector B. In this fitted state, the gate-shaped frame portion 15 and the rib 16 are exposed outside the hood portion F. It is located along the opening edge of the hood portion F.

The retainer 20 has a base 21 that is long in the width direction so as to cover the opening of the retainer mounting hole 13.
Three stopper pieces 22 projecting from the upper surface of the
And two locking pieces 23 protruding upward from the upper side.
The locking piece 23 has a U-shape when viewed from the side, and a pair of front and rear locking claws 23A is formed at a protruding end thereof. On the other hand, a locking projection 14 </ b> A is formed on the rear end inner surface of the locking space 14, and the retainer mounting hole 1 in the locking space 14 is formed.
The hole edge of No. 3 is the locking receiving portion 14B.

When the retainer 20 is pushed shallowly into the retainer mounting hole 13, the front locking claw 23A engages with the locking receiving portion 14B from above, and the rear locking claw 23A engages with the locking projection 14A from below. As a result, the retainer 20 is held in the temporarily locked position (see FIG. 6). In this temporarily locked state, the retaining piece 22 is in the cavity 1 as shown by the chain line in FIG.
2 is located at a position retracted downward from the cavity 12.
Of the terminal fitting 11 can be inserted and removed. Further, when the retainer 20 is pushed further deeply (pushed up) from the temporary locking position, the rear locking claw 23A is vertically sandwiched between the ceiling surface of the locking space 14 and the locking projection 14A. , The retainer 20 is held at the final locking position. In this fully locked state, the retaining piece 22 projects into the cavity 12 and engages with the terminal fitting 11 as shown by a solid line in FIG.
The removal of the terminal fitting 11 is restricted.

A shallow recess 17 is formed at the rear edge of the opening of the retainer mounting hole 13 (the left edge in FIGS. 4 to 6). The region where the pair of ribs 16 are formed is set such that the space between the ribs 16 and the recess 17 are aligned in the width direction. This recess 17
The trailing edge is an inclined surface 17A.
And the lower surface of the housing 10 are connected at an obtuse angle, and the obtuse angled corner portion 17B is connected to the jig 30 as described later.
Is used as a fulcrum for leverage when the retainer 20 is displaced to the temporary locking position by leverage. At a rear edge portion of the retainer 20, a hook portion 24 that projects toward the concave portion 17 in a temporarily locked state is formed. The upper surface of the hook 24 and the recess 1
7 and between the rear end (projecting end) of the hooking portion 24 and the inclined surface 17A, a gap is provided for inserting the front end of the jig 30 (FIG. 4). See). Thus, the front end of the jig 30 can be inserted into the recess 17 from the rear and engaged with the hook 24 from above.

Here, the jig 30 will be described. The jig 30 has a minus driver shape, is elongated in the front-rear direction, and is slightly tapered so as to become thinner toward the front end. The rear end of the jig 30 is provided with an operation section 31 having a large diameter for easy grasping. The operation unit 31 is located behind the rib 16 when the jig 30 is hooked on the retainer 20. Further, the operation unit 31 serves as a power point for leverage operation, and this operation unit 31
, The distance from the fulcrum 17B to the hook portion 24 serving as the lever's point of action is approximately 1 /
5 short. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 4, the front end of the jig 30 is
4 and the jig 30 is in contact with the fulcrum 17B, the jig 30 overlaps the rib 16 when viewed from the side. Of course, the jig 30 and the rib 16 also overlap in the process of bringing the jig 30 closer to the lower surface of the housing 10 from the state shown in FIG.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described. When the retainer 20 at the final locking position is displaced to the temporary locking position, the front end of the jig 30 is inserted into the recess 17 to engage with the hook 24 of the retainer 20, and this engaged state is maintained. The posture of the jig 30 is changed so that the jig 30 approaches the lower surface of the housing 10, and the jig 30 is moved to the fulcrum 17B of the lever.
0 (see FIG. 4). At this time, the jig 30
Are located between the pair of ribs 16. From this state, the operation unit 31 is moved upward to bring the jig 30 closer to the lower surface of the housing 10. Then, in front of the fulcrum 17B, the front end of the jig 30 pushes down the hooking portion 24 by the leverage, whereby the locking piece 23 on the rear side of the retainer 20 elastically bends, and the locking claw 23A is locked. 14A
And the retainer 20 is disengaged from the final locking position (see FIG. 5). When the locking claw 23A is disengaged from the locking projection 14A, it is necessary to apply a large downward power to the lever action point (hook portion 24) in order to elastically bend the rear locking piece 23. Since the distance from the fulcrum 17B to the force point (the operation unit 31) is considerably longer than the distance from the lever's fulcrum 17B to the action point, the operating force is small. Further, since the ratio of the displacement amount of the hooking portion 24 to the operation amount of the operation portion 31 is small due to the relationship between the force point and the distance from the fulcrum 17B of the acting point, even if the jig 30 is operated greatly and quickly, the retainer 20 can be operated. Moves slowly and its displacement is small. Therefore, there is no possibility that the retainer 20 is rebounded out of the retainer mounting hole 13 with excessive force.

When the operation of the jig 30 is further continued from the state shown in FIG. 5, the fulcrum of the lever thereafter moves to the rear edge 10A of the housing 10, and the fulcrum from the new fulcrum 10A to the action point (hook portion 24). Since the distance is longer than the above and the distance from the fulcrum 10A to the fulcrum (the operation unit 31) is shorter than the above, a larger operation force is required than when the fulcrum is 17B. However, the locking claw 23A is locked to the locking protrusion 14A.
Since the lower power required only after disengagement from the vehicle is only against the sliding resistance between the two, the required operating force does not need to be so large. When the retainer 20 reaches the temporary locking position, the locking piece 23 on the rear side is elastically restored to the locking claw 2.
3A is engaged with the lower surface of the locking projection 14A, and the front locking claw 23A is engaged with the upper surface of the locking receiving portion 14B, whereby the retainer 20 is held at the temporary locking position (see FIG. 6). . When the rear end edge 10A of the housing 10 is used as a fulcrum, the path of the front end of the jig 30 is displaced so as to escape backward from the retainer 20 while drawing an arc. Therefore, when the jig 30 is further tilted from the state shown by the solid line in FIG. 6 in which the retainer 20 is displaced to the temporary locking position, the jig 30 slides on the inclined surface 24A of the hook portion 24,
As shown by a chain line in FIG. That is, the retainer 20 can be reliably held at the temporary locking position without being displaced more than necessary.

As described above, since the jig 30 is sandwiched between the pair of ribs 16 while the retainer 20 is displaced from the main locking position to the temporary locking position, the jig 30 is The operation is stable without floating in the width direction. Also,
When the connector A is fitted with the mating connector B, the gate-shaped frame portion 15 and the rib 16 are exposed outside the hood portion F. The housing 10 can be easily pulled out of the hood portion F by hooking a finger on the ribs 15 and the ribs 16, and the workability is excellent. Also, at the moment when the retainer 20 deviates from the final locking position in the early stage of the operation of the jig 30, the greatest downward power is required. At this time, the position of the fulcrum 17B is more than the force point (the operation part 31). Part 24)
, The operation can be reliably performed with a small operation force.

<Other Embodiments> The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and illustrated in the drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. In addition, various changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. (1) In the above embodiment, the rib is arranged at the rear end edge of the housing. However, according to the present invention, the rib may be formed at a position forward of the rear end of the housing. (2) In the above embodiment, the fulcrum of the lever action by the jig is disposed between the retainer mounting hole and the rib. However, according to the present invention, the rib is disposed forward of the rear end of the housing and the rib is provided. The fulcrum of the lever may be arranged behind.

(3) Although the female connector has been described in the above embodiment, the present invention can be applied to a male connector.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a connector according to a first embodiment and a mating connector.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the terminal fitting is prevented from being removed by a retainer in the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a jig is hooked on a retainer at a final locking position in the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a state in which the retainer is being displaced from the final locking position to the temporary locking position in the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the retainer is displaced to a temporary locking position in the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A: Connector B: Mating connector F: Hood 10: Housing 11: Terminal fitting 13: Retainer mounting hole 16: Rib 17B: Lever fulcrum 20: Retainer 24: Hook part (hook part) 30: Jig 31 ... Operation unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01R 13/42

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A housing having a retainer mounting hole opened on a side surface, a terminal fitting inserted into and removed from the housing, and a temporary locking position allowing insertion and removal of the terminal fitting with respect to the retainer mounting hole. A retainer fitted deeper than the temporary locking position and displaceably mounted between the final locking position for holding the terminal fitting in the regular insertion position . A recess is provided at the trailing edge.
And insert the front end of the jig, which is long in the front-rear direction, into the recess.
The retainer is displaced from the final locking position to the temporary locking position by leverage while the jig approaches the side surface of the housing while being hooked on the retainer , and the side surface of the housing includes A connector formed by projecting a pair of ribs positioned so as to sandwich the jig from both sides in the width direction, wherein the retainer locks the jig at the final locking position with the jig.
Release operation until the temporary release position is reached
The fulcrum is the retainer mounting hole in the recess and the housing.
The edge of the portion where the side where the opening opens is continuous, and after the retainer is released from being locked at the final locking position.
In the state before reaching the temporary locking position,
Set to the rear edge of the housing that is the transition destination.
Connector, characterized in that that.